But experts say year-round programs needed to change behavior

Every year around prom and graduation, a number of local high schools host elaborate mock crashes to drive home the dangers of drinking and distracted driving.

But they may not pack the punch organizers are going for even as emergency responders, fire-rescue trucks, helicopters and other community resources are deployed to show what happens after a major crash.

"By themselves, they have minimal impact," said Claudia Bailly, spokeswoman for the United Way of Broward Commission on Substance Abuse.

Research shows that a few days after the mock crash the gripping display of twisted bodies and metal fades from teen's minds, and their sense of invincibility returns, said Penny Wells, SADD executive director.

Still, participants say the mock crashes are worthwhile, even if the message sticks with only a few students.

"You never know how effective it's going to be," said Capt. Don De Lucia, Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue spokesman. "You figure if you save one (student), you accomplished something."

Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue puts on crash reenactments several times a year at schools throughout the county, fulfilling requests from schools that want to put on shows typically for upperclassmen.

The practice dates back to the early 1990s. The scenes are meant to shock and startle. The scenarios follow a typical script.

Students out for a night get into a serious accident because the driver was impaired. Students in the audience watch the scene unfold as police and fire-rescue converge on the scene.

A wrecked car is pried apart with a jaws of life. Injured students are rescued and treated. Some may be driven away in a hearse. In Palm Beach County, sometimes the Health Care District of Palm Beach County's Trauma Hawk helicopter is used.

Police give a field sobriety test and arrest the offending driver. In some cases, a trial is held for the impaired driver.

"You could see the kids on the edge of their seats," said Division Chief Al Diliello of Pembroke Pines Fire-Rescue, which recently participated in a crash reenactment at Flanagan High School. "They realize there is a finality to it. You can get hurt and can get killed."

Last year, the Boca Raton-based Dori Slosberg Foundation began organizing crash reenactments at South Florida and Treasure Coast schools as part of its overall effort to reduce teen crash deaths.

They've held several this year, including one Friday at Wellington High School, usually a day or two before a high school's prom.

"It's a matter of trial and error to see if anything will get to the teens," said Tara Kirschner, the Dori Slosberg Foundation's executive director. "We try everything."

The reenactments are among several events and programs the foundation regularly holds.

Such continuous efforts throughout the school year have a greater impact than mock crashes, Bailly said.

"(The mock crashes) can be effective as part of an ongoing education plan," she said. But there has to be a "long-term messaging plan throughout the school year."

Those messages should also target parents, who teens say have the most influence in their lives, Bailly said.

Specific policies at schools about what won't be tolerated at the prom also are important, Wells said. Plus, laws and enforcement that discourage underage drinking and distracted driving are critical to protecting young drivers.

But driving impaired during prom and graduation may not be as prevalent as some may think.

Studies show that teen drivers are most likely to drive impaired duringNew Year's Eveand July 4, Wells said. Teen crash deaths also spike during the summer months.

Overall, teen crashes have been declining. The number of young people involved in crashes in Florida dropped from 36,009 in 2007 to 26,848 in 2010. Teen crash deaths also declined from 131 to 80 during the same time period. Still, traffic crashes remain a major killer of young people.

Wells says if mock crashes are held, they should occur within days of the prom, and they shouldn't be held at a school every year.